The Lutheran Book Concern

“Human reason and inclination are always in their natural state averse to the doctrine of Justification by Faith. Hence it is no wonder that earth and hell combine in persistent efforts to banish it from the Church and from the world.

“The history of the Church confirms and illustrates the teachings of the Bible, that yielding little by little leads to yielding more and more, until all is in danger; and the tempter is never satisfied until all is lost.

“When you feel your burden of sin weighing heavily upon you, only go to Him… Only those who will not acknowledge their sin and feel no need of a Savior — only these are rejected.

“Sincere believers of the truth revealed in Christ for man’s salvation have no reason to be ashamed of Luther, whom God sent to bring again to His people the precious truth in Jesus… The whole purpose of the book is practical.

“Christ our Savior and all his apostles preached justification by faith, even as did the prophets of the Old Testament. Justification is the central doctrine of all the Scriptures, the heart and soul of the entire Christian religion.

“The mistake of those who direct all their efforts toward making men better and improving human society by teaching and enforcing the law… is of serious consequence to the souls of men… It can neither save their souls nor make them good… The only help for us is in Christ, without whom we can do nothing; and that help consists first of all in the forgiveness of our sins, which separate us from God and all that is good, and deprive us of all true peace and joy.

“The message of the Law is needed in our congregations today as much as ever. Even where church attendance is gratifying, spiritual life is often on a rather low spiritual and moral plane… The range of topics treated in these sermons is virtually extensive with the spiritual needs and duties of our people.

“The sermon on the mount was preached in the interest of the great salvation which came by the grace and truth which were revealed through Christ, and its preaching of the law as a schoolmaster to bring us unto Him for salvation is always needed in our world of sin.

“Our love for the Apostles’ Creed will stand in exact ratio to our intimate acquaintance with it, and our love for the great fundamental truths of the Gospel of which it is the synopsis.

“There is a knowledge which puffeth up, because it is sundered from true faith which maketh humble. It is knowledge without light or life, a cold thing lodged in the brain, but without influence on the sensibilities and will.

Justified and saved by grace alone, for Christ’s sake, through faith — that is the kernel of the whole Gospel. This is the fundamental article of the Christian faith and upholds the entire system of Christian doctrine as well as the church itself.

“On November 16, 1881, 12 pastors and teachers, 4 representatives of congregations, and 9 guests met at Blue Island, Illinois to discuss the new doctrine of predestination the Missouri Synod had begun to teach at that time.

“This article [justification by faith] is, as it were, the fortress and chief bulwark of the whole Christian doctrine and religion. If this article remains inviolate, the perversions of the other articles will cease of themselves.

Towards the end of his life, C. F. W. Walther brought forth a teaching of election which many Missouri and other American Lutherans could not reconcile with the Scriptures or the Lutheran Confessions.

“…Every minister of the Gospel should so preach that he need never be ashamed of the words he has spoken. Do you suppose that if I were ashamed of my sermons I would have them put in cold print to speak long after I am dead?

An excellent collection of 57 sermons were delivered by Revs. Lenski, Tressel, Schuh, Gohdes, Bauslin, Troutman, Long and others. Particularly good are numbers 12, 19, 22, 30, 38, and 45.